Current Session: March 2026
Dog Training Classes Open to the Public
Beginner obedience classes are held at the IDTC Training Space at The Shops at Ithaca Mall and are open to the general public. The normal progression through the classes is Puppy (if age appropriate), Beginner 1, Beyond Beginner 1, Beginner 2, CGC.
Preference is given to club members if they sign up within the first hour. Register using the link above. Once the registrar confirms your spot in the class, you will be asked to provide vaccination information and pay the fee ($110 for non-members, $40 for active members, $90 for inactive members) by check. Members may pay by PayPal.
If you want to check whether classes are full, or have other questions about the application process, please contact the registrar, Marian Szebenyi.
More information about each class can be found by clicking the plus sign to the right of the title.
Preference is given to club members if they sign up within the first hour. Register using the link above. Once the registrar confirms your spot in the class, you will be asked to provide vaccination information and pay the fee ($110 for non-members, $40 for active members, $90 for inactive members) by check. Members may pay by PayPal.
If you want to check whether classes are full, or have other questions about the application process, please contact the registrar, Marian Szebenyi.
More information about each class can be found by clicking the plus sign to the right of the title.
AKC STAR Puppy (3-5 months) / Wednesdays @ 6:15pm FULL
Instructor: Lisa D'Annibale, Jo Ann Molar-Kieffer, Tracy Stokol
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Get your puppy started off on the right paw! This class is for puppies 3-5 months old at the start of class. The class will follow the AKC S.T.A.R. puppy curriculum focusing on socialization, training, activity, and responsibility. Puppies will learn basic skills through positive training and games. Handlers will also learn how to properly reward their dogs, troubleshoot problem behaviors, and age-appropriate activity and socialization routines for their puppy.
Skills covered include:
Requirements:
After successful completion of Puppy Beginner, dogs will be ready to move on to Beginner 1.
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Get your puppy started off on the right paw! This class is for puppies 3-5 months old at the start of class. The class will follow the AKC S.T.A.R. puppy curriculum focusing on socialization, training, activity, and responsibility. Puppies will learn basic skills through positive training and games. Handlers will also learn how to properly reward their dogs, troubleshoot problem behaviors, and age-appropriate activity and socialization routines for their puppy.
Skills covered include:
- Basic manners
- Attention
- Leash walking
- Handling/grooming
- Sit
- Down
Requirements:
- This is an introductory class, no prior training is necessary.
- Puppies must be 3-6 months of age at the start of the session.
- Puppies must have age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations.
- If students want the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy certification, they will need to pass the evaluation and attend at least 6 of the classes.
After successful completion of Puppy Beginner, dogs will be ready to move on to Beginner 1.
Beginner 1 Adolescent (6-11 months) / Thursdays @ 6:15pm full
Instructor: Christine Stratakos, Assistants Kathy Hughes and Carol Brafman
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Not sure where to begin to teach your dog new things? Start here! Beginner 1 Adolescent is for dogs 6-11 months at the start of class with no previous formal training or coming from a puppy class. This class will introduce dogs to basic manners and self-control. Handlers will be introduced to effective canine communication, including rewarding and leash handling, and how to troubleshoot undesirable behaviors.
Skills covered include:
Requirements:
After successful completion of Beginner 1, dogs should move to Beginner 2.
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Not sure where to begin to teach your dog new things? Start here! Beginner 1 Adolescent is for dogs 6-11 months at the start of class with no previous formal training or coming from a puppy class. This class will introduce dogs to basic manners and self-control. Handlers will be introduced to effective canine communication, including rewarding and leash handling, and how to troubleshoot undesirable behaviors.
Skills covered include:
- Attention
- Sit
- Down
- Loose leash walking
- Recall
- Wait at a door
- Stay
Requirements:
- This is an introductory class, no prior training is required.
- Dogs should be at least 6 months but no more than 11 months at the start of class.
- Dogs must have rabies vaccination and other age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations.
- Please note: IDTC can not accept aggressive or reactive dogs in our classes.
After successful completion of Beginner 1, dogs should move to Beginner 2.
Beginner 1 Adult (12+ Months) / Thursdays @ 5pm full
Instructor: Marian Szebenyi, Assistants Masha Fontes and Breanna Jones
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Not sure where to begin to teach your dog new things? Start here! Beginner 1 is adult dogs 12 months and up (no upper age limit) with no previous formal training or coming from a puppy class. This class will introduce dogs to basic manners and self-control. Handlers will be introduced to effective canine communication, including rewarding and leash handling, and how to troubleshoot undesirable behaviors.
Skills covered include:
After successful completion of Beginner 1, dogs should move to Beginner 2.
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Not sure where to begin to teach your dog new things? Start here! Beginner 1 is adult dogs 12 months and up (no upper age limit) with no previous formal training or coming from a puppy class. This class will introduce dogs to basic manners and self-control. Handlers will be introduced to effective canine communication, including rewarding and leash handling, and how to troubleshoot undesirable behaviors.
Skills covered include:
- Attention
- Sit
- Down
- Loose leash walking
- Recall
- Wait at a door
- Stay
- This is an introductory class, no prior training is required.
- Dogs should be at least 1 year old at the start of class.
- Dogs must have rabies vaccination and other age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations.
- Please note: IDTC can not accept aggressive or reactive dogs in our classes.
After successful completion of Beginner 1, dogs should move to Beginner 2.
Beginner 2 / Mondays @ 5pm FULL
Instructor: Jo Ann Molnar-Kieffer Assistants: Sarah Simpkins and Kim Snow
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Please note: This class used to be called "Beyond Beginner 1." If you have taken an IDTC Beginner 1 class, this is your next step!
Beginner 2 is geared to help you and your dogs improve your skills and confidence in the following areas:
Requirements:
After successful completion of Beginner 2, dogs move to Beginner 3.
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Please note: This class used to be called "Beyond Beginner 1." If you have taken an IDTC Beginner 1 class, this is your next step!
Beginner 2 is geared to help you and your dogs improve your skills and confidence in the following areas:
- Attention/focus
- Wait/ stay
- Recall
- Loose leash walking
- Being calm and comfortable around other dogs and people
Requirements:
- Dogs should have successfully completed Beginner 1 (6-12 months OR adult).
- Dogs must have rabies vaccination and other age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations.
- Please note: IDTC can not accept aggressive or reactive dogs in our classes.
After successful completion of Beginner 2, dogs move to Beginner 3.
Beginner 3 / Wednesdays @ 7:30pm FULL
Please note: This class used to be called Beginner 2! If you have previously taken Beyond Beginner 1, this is your next step!
Instructor Eglantina Lucio-Belbase, Assistant Denise Moore
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
In Beginner 3, you will build on the training and skills started in Beginner 1 and 2 to improve reliability and precision. Sit and down will be taught without lures, and at both the left side and in front of the handler, and stand will be introduced. Changes of pace and left, right, and about turns will be added to left-side loose leash walking. Distractions and distance will be added to recalls. Sit for exam and other new skills will be introduced.
Requirements:
After successful completion of Beginner 3, dogs may continue on to Canine Good Citizen, themed classes open to the public, or certain other classes.
Instructor Eglantina Lucio-Belbase, Assistant Denise Moore
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
In Beginner 3, you will build on the training and skills started in Beginner 1 and 2 to improve reliability and precision. Sit and down will be taught without lures, and at both the left side and in front of the handler, and stand will be introduced. Changes of pace and left, right, and about turns will be added to left-side loose leash walking. Distractions and distance will be added to recalls. Sit for exam and other new skills will be introduced.
Requirements:
- Dogs need to have successfully completed Beginner 2. If you have had equivalent training elsewhere, please contact the Training Director for a placement evaluation.
- Dogs must have rabies vaccination and other age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations.
- Please note: IDTC can not accept aggressive or reactive dogs in our classes.
After successful completion of Beginner 3, dogs may continue on to Canine Good Citizen, themed classes open to the public, or certain other classes.
Beginner Drop-Ins / Not offered this session
Instructor
1 hour; limited to 8 dogs per week
This supervised practice opportunity is limited to students enrolled in the current session beginner classes (puppy through CGC). More information on weekly sign-ups will be emailed directly.
1 hour; limited to 8 dogs per week
This supervised practice opportunity is limited to students enrolled in the current session beginner classes (puppy through CGC). More information on weekly sign-ups will be emailed directly.
Canine Good Citizen / Wednesdays @ 5pm FULL
Instructor Judy Roberts and Jan Estes
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Preparation for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, which will be given at the end of this class. Teams should have already taken class through Beginner 3 (formally Beginner 2) level, or member dogs working at that level.
8 teams; 1 hour; 7 weeks
Preparation for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test, which will be given at the end of this class. Teams should have already taken class through Beginner 3 (formally Beginner 2) level, or member dogs working at that level.
Big Feelings / Saturdays @ 10:30am - FULL
Instructors: Jean Bonasera and Martha Goelzer
4 dogs, 1 hour
Registrar: Linda Pacioretty
Are you interested in signing up for a beginner class, but have a dog that loses his or her mind in the presence of other dogs or people?
The primary goal of this class is to give dogs an opportunity to habituate to the IDTC training space in a non-stressful way so that they will be comfortable in a group class situation and able to focus on and easily reorient to their handlers in the training space. More generally, the class is designed to strengthen a dog's ability to stay attuned to his or her handler while working on leash around other dogs. We aim to always keep the dogs in the class in the “think and learn” zone, and only gradually introduce the presence of other dogs, beginning with neutral dogs.
We will focus on exercises developed by Suzanne Clothier and Leslie McDevitt. The first class will be a handlers only class, then for each of the 4 weeks following we will work with 2 of the four teams in the class, alternating pairs. During each of those weeks new exercises will be introduced. The other handlers will observe and help with feedback of the working teams and may also have a chance to practice the mechanics of new skills with one of our neutral dogs. On the 6th and 7th week, we will orchestrate having the 4 dog/handler teams together in the space and use distance and gating to help keep dogs in the 'think and learn' zone as we work through skills together.
We will not be working with dogs that are aggressive to dogs or people. Dogs should be comfortable in a crate for 15 minutes at a time.
If you are unsure whether or not your dog is a good candidate for this class, please contact the instructors Jean ([email protected]) and Martha ([email protected]).
Students who submit a registration for this class will be contacted by the instructors for additional screening and information.
4 dogs, 1 hour
Registrar: Linda Pacioretty
Are you interested in signing up for a beginner class, but have a dog that loses his or her mind in the presence of other dogs or people?
The primary goal of this class is to give dogs an opportunity to habituate to the IDTC training space in a non-stressful way so that they will be comfortable in a group class situation and able to focus on and easily reorient to their handlers in the training space. More generally, the class is designed to strengthen a dog's ability to stay attuned to his or her handler while working on leash around other dogs. We aim to always keep the dogs in the class in the “think and learn” zone, and only gradually introduce the presence of other dogs, beginning with neutral dogs.
We will focus on exercises developed by Suzanne Clothier and Leslie McDevitt. The first class will be a handlers only class, then for each of the 4 weeks following we will work with 2 of the four teams in the class, alternating pairs. During each of those weeks new exercises will be introduced. The other handlers will observe and help with feedback of the working teams and may also have a chance to practice the mechanics of new skills with one of our neutral dogs. On the 6th and 7th week, we will orchestrate having the 4 dog/handler teams together in the space and use distance and gating to help keep dogs in the 'think and learn' zone as we work through skills together.
We will not be working with dogs that are aggressive to dogs or people. Dogs should be comfortable in a crate for 15 minutes at a time.
If you are unsure whether or not your dog is a good candidate for this class, please contact the instructors Jean ([email protected]) and Martha ([email protected]).
Students who submit a registration for this class will be contacted by the instructors for additional screening and information.
Cornell Companions Therapy dog / Wednesdays @ 3:45Pm
Instructor: Janet Gray; Assistant: Jean Snow
6 weeks
8 dogs, 1 hour
Registrar: Linda Pacioretty
Cornell Companions is Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine sponsored program where volunteers and their pets visit local hospitals, nursing homes, campus de-stress events, children with disabilities and reading programs. This course will help prepare humans and their dogs for the Cornell Companions therapy dog evaluation. Therapy dogs should enjoy calm interactions with new people, be relaxed and able to ignore other dogs in proximity (6-10 feet away), and should be comfortable visiting new places. Teams signing up for this class should be committed to becoming a therapy dog team and taking part in regular Cornell Companions visits. Prior to enrolling, please read the program FAQs or reach out to Janet Gray with any questions.
Skills covered include:
Requirements:
6 weeks
8 dogs, 1 hour
Registrar: Linda Pacioretty
Cornell Companions is Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine sponsored program where volunteers and their pets visit local hospitals, nursing homes, campus de-stress events, children with disabilities and reading programs. This course will help prepare humans and their dogs for the Cornell Companions therapy dog evaluation. Therapy dogs should enjoy calm interactions with new people, be relaxed and able to ignore other dogs in proximity (6-10 feet away), and should be comfortable visiting new places. Teams signing up for this class should be committed to becoming a therapy dog team and taking part in regular Cornell Companions visits. Prior to enrolling, please read the program FAQs or reach out to Janet Gray with any questions.
Skills covered include:
- Loose leash walking in a crowd
- Sit, Down, Stay, Recall with distractions
- Neutral reaction to other dogs
- Ignoring food distractions and dropped items
- Reacting calmly to wheelchairs, crutches, etc that may be encountered during visits
- Calm and positive interactions with humans, especially children
Requirements:
- Open to both IDTC members and non-members
- Teams should have taken classes through at least IDTC Beginner 3 (used to be called Beginner 2) level before enrolling in this class and working at a CGC class level
- Dogs should be comfortable going new places, be relaxed in proximity to other dogs, and enjoy calmly interacting with new people
- Dogs must be at least one year old and been owned by the current owner for at least 6 months
- Dogs must have rabies vaccination and other age appropriate vaccinations per their vet’s recommendations to take part in class. Additionally:
- A health evaluation, including fecal examination, and vaccination records will need to be submitted as part of the process to become a Cornell Companion
- Please note: Dogs being fed a raw diet are not currently eligible to be part of Cornell Companions
Members Only & Advanced Classes
Advanced classes are open to members only. Members will be accepted in a class based on the order they sign up or priority listed below. Register using the link above. Once the registrar confirms your spot in the class, you will be asked to provide vaccination information and pay the fee ($40 for active members, $90 for inactive members) by check or PayPal.
If you want to check whether classes are full, or have other questions about the application process, please contact the advanced class registrar, Linda Pacioretty. Some classes or special workshops will have a different registrar listed below. If you want to inquire about drop-in availability, please contact the instructor listed below.
More information about each class can be found by clicking the plus sign to the right of the title.
If you want to check whether classes are full, or have other questions about the application process, please contact the advanced class registrar, Linda Pacioretty. Some classes or special workshops will have a different registrar listed below. If you want to inquire about drop-in availability, please contact the instructor listed below.
More information about each class can be found by clicking the plus sign to the right of the title.
Please note that IDTC is unable to accept aggressive or reactive dogs in our classes. If you are concerned that your dog is aggressive or reactive to people or other dogs, please ask your vet for a referral to a certified animal behaviorist.